Mayor Curry told reporters April 23 that he wants the first phase of a reopening strategy to begin in May and “not late May,” but he did not provide a specific timeline or outline.
Curry said at a virtual news conference that safer-at-home mandates have reduced the number of hospitalizations and deaths predicted in expert COVID-19 models.
The mayor expects Phase I will include reopening some nonessential businesses, but Curry said his administration is evaluating whether continued work-from-home recommendations will be guidelines or an executive order.
He said social distancing will continue in the coming weeks but another full economic shutdown in the future “is not an option.”
“That said, people are restless, I’m restless, my family is restless and we should be,” Curry said.
“When an entire economy is shut down, jobs are lost and our way of life is disrupted.”
Curry said that with projections “coming nowhere close to what was predicted, people will question decisions and more importantly, future warnings.”
“Public trust is critical,” he said. “The COVID-19 crisis is new and unknown, so we all acted in ... what we believed to be in the best interest of our communities with the data and communication available.”